Balcony Gardening

Balcony Gardening

Live in a high rise building? Your balcony can still make it possible to have a beautiful outdoor living space.

Make your balcony a special oasis of colour, fragrance, and foliage and enjoy all the benefits of gardening even with a limited space.

What to Plant

What to Plant

Window boxes look great along the railing and give you the opportunity to use upright annuals like Heliotrope, Nicotiana, Sunshine Impatiens, and Geraniums with lots of trailing plants in front. Choose from Licorice Vine, Trailing Lobelia, Bacopa, Blackie Potato Vine, or Trailing Verbena.

If your exposure is facing south or west, be sure to water often during the hottest part of summer or plant more drought tolerant annuals like Portulaca, Gazania, Dusty Miller, Lantana, and Swan River Daisy.

Any annual can be used in a container as long as you consider its light preference and keep its full size in mind so it will remain in proportion with the size of the pot.

Hanging Baskets

Hanging Baskets

You can install attractive brackets to hang baskets on for a lavish design to your walkway.

Sunshine Impatiens can handle full sun; position them to receive morning sun only to avoid burnt leaves.

Ivy Geraniums are more appropriate for the full afternoon sun and heat.

For partial shade try Fuchsia or Trailing Lobelia. Non-stop/Angel-wing Begonias are the best hanging baskets for heavy shade.

Containers

Containers

Think about the style of pots you want, whether you are going to mix materials or have one primary type. Clay (terra cotta), wood, glazed ceramic, wrought iron, resin, plastic, and concrete are available in many sizes and colours.

Place a layer of gravel at the bottom of your container to cover the drainage hole to prevent use water escaping when you water. Parkwood® Premium Potting Mix, our specially formulated soil for containers, is our recommendation.

Edible Gardening

Edible Gardening

Think you can't grow herbs and veggies on your balcony? Think again! We carry patio sized vegetables that will suit your small space living and keep you eating fresh, organic produce through the season.

Parsley, oregano, basil, and rosemary are the perfect pairing for a pasta sauce mix when grown with tomatoes in containers.

Large Containers

Large Containers

If space allows it, plant some larger specimens that have year round interest such as any small standard trees like Weeping Peashrub, Euonymus, or grafted evergreens.

Under your tree, plant a perennial or evergreen ground cover.

If it’s sunny, establish Dwarf Japanese or Blue Chip Junipers to cascade over the sides of your balcony.

For shade, plant Wintercreeper or Bearberry Cotoneaster.

You can also plant with a variety of annuals or smaller scale perennials for colour all summer long.

A large container also makes it possible to grow vines because you can set a trellis right into the pot. Now you have a vertical support for growing annual Morning Glory, Sweet Peas, Moon Vine, and Clematis. This is an idea for added privacy too.

The keys to success with over-wintering are to place the outdoor planters away from winter wind (or move it against an inner wall in autumn) and water very heavily in late November. Begin watering again in late March, once soil starts to thaw. Since natural precipitation doesn’t collect enough to keep a root ball moist in any container, test the soil regularly or invest in a moisture meter. Line it with 5 cm (2") of gravel, and raise it off the floor. This allows air circulation and drainage, so the roots won’t rot.